How an "egalitarian incubator" music venue hopes to revive Brooklyn's art scene

The National Sawdust / Original Music Workshop venue in Brooklyn, NY. Image: Bureau V.

Music venue National Sawdust, formerly OMW workshop, slated to open this fall, hopes to revive, even temporarily, the thrill of ‘90s and early 2000’s Williamsburg, a time when anything felt possible and artistic collaboration ruled supreme. The [13,000 sq.foot] space will offer a rare outlet for musicians of lesser appreciated art forms, from opera to experimental jazz, the opportunity to study, practice, perform, and receive mentorship through an in-venue, non-profit program.
— GOOD

Fresh faces for new spaces. Non-profit arts group National Sawdust collaborated with architect Peter Zuspan — founding principal (and classically trained opera singer) of local emerging practice Bureau V — in designing the group's upcoming music performance space. While Brooklyn has become a commodified brand in recent years, National Sawdust and Bureau V hope the new venue will mix things up a bit by "[combining] the historic European concert hall model with the late bare-bones blackbox [theater] model".

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4 Comments

I live 2 streets down from this place. It is next to 'Blackbear' Bar. The seemingly abandoned construction site hasn't moved a dust since 13 months I lived in Williamsburg. Is something happening there in 2 months that I am not aware of?